As soon as I stand up, with the plan of already sleeping, I heard a knock from our door.

My heart started
to beat fast; it is already two in the morning. The three consecutive knocks were followed by a deafening
silence. Since there are no other suspicious noise and I bear in my mind that if something happens one
shout and the neighborhood will surely come to us. I slowly walked towards the door and held my
breath as I open the door slightly, enough for me to see who is outside. I was preparing myself to shout,
but no one is to be found outside our house.

I open the door enough so I can wonder my eyes outside, but no one was there. Until I noticed a big box
on our doorstep. My mind tells me that that is kind of suspicious, so I kicked it. I was going to get it,
“Ano ‘yan, Apo?”, I felt that my heart went out of my chest. “La!”, this is the only thing that I could utter
for I was so scared. I told her what happened and we both get the box silently. We placed the box just
beside my nephew and we were thinking who that could be. I began overthinking that this might be a
dismembered body, and someone just dumped it outside our house. But looking from the outside, it
was clean and there is no blood dripping. My hands are trembling while I was opening it, and both of my
eyes fell open when I saw what is inside the box.

I am now looking a box full of goods. Lots of it. I forgot that I am with my grandmother, and as I look at
her, her eyes scream happiness that anyone cannot even fathom. I am smiling at that thought that a box
can make her happy. We spend the rest of our time looking through each food that we cannot buy even
I accumulate my salary from working at a fast-food chain. The next day, my nephew woke up to a bunch
of food that he can eat for the rest of the month. To see that he got the chance to taste things that we
cannot afford, melts my heart. I continued my day as I prepare to take my online classes, good thing that
I am a scholar, and the only thing that we need to be bothered I on how we make me and my
grandmother’s salary enough for us to live. As I finish my classes, I began preparing for my work. I left
the house and towards an alley. The only way that lights up way is the moon but that did not scare for I
have been walking here all my life.

But it changed tonight, I hear heavy footsteps behind me, and it is kind of creeps me out. The dark and
empty alley makes my nervousness even worse. I looked down and saw a shadow of a man who seems
like hurrying towards me. I walk as fast as I could so I would not look like that I am scared. But that did
not help, no voice escaped my mouth when I felt someone touch my shoulders. “Ate, nahulog mo.”, I let
out a deep sigh when I found out that I dropped my wallet. I slowly faced the man and looked at him. In
front of me is what it seems a forty-year-old tattooed man whom you would think that just got out from
prison. He was handing me my wallet and I looked at him again. I felt a pang of guilt for judging him
because of his appearance. As I thanked him and continued my walk, I tried to shake the guilt out of my
chest. Until I was on my work, I still feel shameful of what I just had thought of that man.